Conventional gas-fired grills consist of a housing base containing a gas burner positioned beneath a fire grate which supports briquettes such as lava rocks. A cooking grid on which food to be grilled is suspended above the briquettes, and heat from the burning gas is transferred to the briquettes which provides radiant heat for cooking food on the grid. Cooking methods which require heating foods in a container, such as a pot or pan, cannot practically be carried out using a conventional grill because efficient use of these methods require that the gas flame be close to or in contact with the pot or pan.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to provide cooking apparatus which combines the features of grills and conventional cookers. See for example, the following U.S. Patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,083 to Shu which describes a portable device for cooking, roasting and barbecuing; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,413 to Pepin which describes a combination of a barbecue grill and a cooking stove; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,751 to Hoglund which describes a portable camp stove having a grill section and a gas burner section; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,948 to Haglund which describes two cooking sections which are hinged together; and, PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,846 to Hahn which describes a table top grill containing 2 sets of firegrate modules, one for a grilling operation and the other for a pot or pan cooking operation.
While these prior art grills do provide means for simultaneously carrying out both a grilling operation and a pot or pan cooking operation, an improved arrangement for attaching an auxiliary burner to a gas-fired grill is desirable.